Sleeping with the fishes
by Lexxy2793
Summary: When Frankie the Fish turns up dead in the penthouse apartment of the Tangiers, Nick had a spot of bother at the crime scene. One-shot response to a facebook challenge. WARNING: Graphic gore


Catherine hated the monthly meetings at the Tangiers, the casino that she inherited from her late father. She had no interest in running it, but she realised that it was going to be her daughters inheritance, so she attended the meetings to make sure that it was making money. They had only just got through the pleasantries when a message came through on the radio.

 _Hannah, can you take a phone call?_

 _Yes go ahead._

"I am really sorry about this Catherine." Catherine just waved her hand, sighed and sat back in her chair.

She liked the blonde woman who sat in front of her. Hannah was a lovely girl; young, strong willed and a good head on her shoulders. Catherine could see herself in her. She didn't really pay much attention to the phone conversation until it had ended, and Hannah turned to her with no colour in her face and fear in her eyes.

"There's a dead body on the top floor." Catherine thought that she was playing a sick joke to begin with, until she saw tears in her eyes and she started trembling.

"It's ok Hannah, just sit down." She took the young girls hands and guided her to her seat before whipping her phone out.

"Catherine, what can I do for you on your day off?"

"DB, I have a deceased person in my penthouse apartment."

"I will send Sarah and Nick right away."

"Thanks Russell."

She turned back to the young girl and grabbed the bin. She placed it on her lap and rubbed her back and held her hair as she vomited. She was worried that she was going into shock. Hours seemed to go by before her colleagues entered the office.

"Oh Catherine, I'm sorry that you have this again." Sarah hugged her friend before turning her attention to Hannah.

"Hi Hannah, can you tell me what has happened?" Sarah's response was more vomit.

"Sarah, could you stay with her while I take Nick up?"

"Yeah sure." Sarah took her place next to Hannah and started repeating Catherin's actions.

The walk to the elevator was quiet. As they moved across the floor, a barrage of sound hit them. The clinks and clangs of the slot machines, the hoots and howls of the winning punters and the hollers to the waiting staff for more drinks. For the most part no one noticed them, besides the staff. Nicks bullet proof vest and CSI slapped across the back of it drew their attention. There were also a few people who bolted once they saw his badge that was attached to his belt.

"You know I can't let you process the scene."

"I know Nick, but I am the owner of this establishment and I may be able to ID the deceased." Nick just shrugged his shoulders and went quiet.

Stepping out of the elevator, they were greeted by two of the casino staff.

"Has anyone been inside?" Nick asked them.

"Only the maid and she ran outside as soon as she found him." One of them replied.

"Well if you could track her down as the police will need to talk to her. And one of you will need to stay out here until they arrive." They nodded and left them to check out the apartment.

"Wow this is certainly grand." Nick exhaled as they entered. "So what is the story of this place?" He asked as he started moving around the place.

"It did start off as an expensive hotel room, but for the past couple of years it has almost been bought by the same bloke."

They stepped into the bedroom and gasped. It was a blood bath, all originating on the bed. Nick started to process the scene as Catherine had a look around. There were many vases on the floor and the glass table was smashed. There was blood covering the broken glass, which Nick was photographing. They looked at each other and carefully made their way to the bed. They had both been to many a gruesome scene, but this one was up there with the worse.

He was laid spread eagled and tied to the bed. Nick started at the top of the body whilst Catherine looked on. His hands and feet were tied to the bed by chains. He had deep welts in his wrists and in some places they had broken the skin. The hands themselves were covered in blood. With a gloved hand, Nick bent a finger to see that there was no nail left. He quickly checked the rest of his fingers and they both came to the quick conclusion that all his nails from his hands and feet had been torn away.

"No wonder the chains have cut in, this man was tortured." Catherine decided it was now time to tell Nick who this was.

"You will need to do a formal ID, but this is Frankie Fisher."

"What, you mean Frankie the Fish?"

"The one and only."

They looked down and continued their observations. The shoulders weren't sitting right with them, and it was later found out that they were dislocated. His eyes were a grisly sight, as the eyelids had been removed. His nose and cheeks were also broken, as if someone had smashed something into it, possibly the glass table. Unusually he had an apple in his mouth, and after lifting his lips, they could see that he only had one tooth at the top and bottom. They found his remaining teeth in an ashtray next to the bed. One of his trouser legs had been cut open, and a messy sight of bone and blood lay there where his leg had been broken.

What made the scene one of the grisliest was the torso of the man. His t-shirt had been cut open and a thin line appeared periodically as if they had cut into him as they did this. His stomach had a deep slit across it and his insides had been pulled out and placed on his abdomen and hip area. What really did add the icing on the cake so to speak was the message that was written on his chest in his own blood.

Now you sleep with the fishes

"Well I think we can safely say that this is a murder scene."

"And it is my cue to leave." Catherine wished her friend good luck and left the crime scene with a heavy heart. She wished she could help o this case. Frankie the Fish was a supposed reformed mob lord. He was thought to be the leader of one of the main protection rackets in southern America and was linked to money laundering. She straightened her suit and entered the office again.

Nick was taking photos of the little blood spatter on the bedside table when he felt like he wasn't the only one in the room. He had a quick look around and went back to work, telling himself not to be silly.

BANG!

He jolted and saw that the closet was now open and saw a flash of something leave the room.

"Hey." He quickly left the room thinking that he was hot on their heels. When he enetered the hall of the apartment the lights flickered and turned off. He went to a light switch and hit it a few times but to no avail. In the doorway of the office, he could see a shadow moving, like it was a net in the wind. He placed the camera down on the table with the phone and pulled out his torch.

"Hello, anyone here?" The shadow that he saw moved.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, CLUNK.

He pulled his gun from his holster and slowly made his way to the room. There was a tiny window in this room so he couldn't see much. He quickly scanned the room and didn't see anything amiss until he got to the door. He heard what sounded like a woman gasp and then saw the same billowing fabric disappear to the other room.

"Las Vegas PD, STOP!" He ran to the door and realised that he was in another bedroom. It looked like someone had turned it over, like someone had been looking for something. He scanned the area, even checking under the bed and behind the curtains, no-one was there. Was his mind playing tricks on him.

CRASH!

He ran to the hallway again and saw that the door to the apartment was open. He ran to the door, tripping over his camera which was now on the floor. He looked in the hallway and couldn't see anyone other than the police officer.

"Did anyone just leave here?"

"No sir, not that I saw."

"When did you get here?"

"Just now, we've just finished being briefed."

Nick holstered his gun and made his way back into the hall. He had just picked up his camera when he could smell the burning of wood. He entered the office to see a roaring fire in the hearth. It sure as hell wasn't lit when he arrived. He could see what looked like papers burning among the flames. He grabbed the jug of water from the desk and doused the flames. A beeping started coming from his camera. He picked it up and looked at the screen. _All filed erased._

He was most certainly not alone on this crime scene.


End file.
